Targeted breath analysis: exogenous volatile organic compounds (EVOC) as metabolic pathway-specific probes.

Breath research has almost invariably focussed on the identification of endogenous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as disease biomarkers. After five decades, a very limited number of breath tests measuring endogenous VOCs is applied to the clinic. In this perspective article, we explore some of the factors that may have contributed to the current lack of clinical applications of breath endogenous VOCs.

Analyzing complex mixtures of drug-like molecules: Ion mobility as an adjunct to existing liquid chromatography-(tandem) mass spectrometry methods.

The use of traveling wave ion mobility mass spectrometry (TWIMS) is evaluated in conjunction with, and as a possible alternative to, conventional LC-MS(/MS) methods for the separation and characterization of drug-like compounds and metabolites. As a model system we use an in vitro incubation mixture of the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan, which results in more than ten closely related hydrolysis products and chain-like oligomers. Ion mobility as a filtering tool results in the separation of ions of interest from interfering ions, based on charge state and shape/size.

Combining density functional theory (DFT) and collision cross-section (CCS) calculations to analyze the gas-phase behaviour of small molecules and their protonation site isomers.

Electrospray ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) data show that for some small molecules, two (or even more) ions with identical sum formula and mass, but distinct drift times are observed. In spite of showing their own unique and characteristic fragmentation spectra in MS/MS, no configurational or constitutional isomers are found to be present in solution. Instead the observation and separation of such ions appears to be inherent to their gas-phase behaviour during ion mobility experiments.

Protomers of benzocaine: solvent and permittivity dependence.

The immediate environment of a molecule can have a profound influence on its properties. Benzocaine, the ethyl ester of para-aminobenzoic acid that finds an application as a local anesthetic, is found to adopt in its protonated form at least two populations of distinct structures in the gas phase, and their relative intensities strongly depend on the properties of the solvent used in the electrospray ionization process. Here, we combine IR-vibrational spectroscopy with ion mobility-mass spectrometry to yield gas-phase IR spectra of simultaneously m/z and drift-time-resolved species of benzocaine.

Analysis of novel melphalan hydrolysis products formed under isolated lung perfusion conditions using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Melphalan is a widely used cytotoxic agent in cancer treatments. This phenylalanine analog has been shown an effective drug in the treatment of breast cancer, multiple myeloma and melanoma of the extremities. A good knowledge of the drug's degradation and metabolism are crucial for understanding its activity during cancer treatments.